From Bedok Waters, With a Father’s Love

-

Here on the shores of Bedok Beach once rested a handful of sampans -  among them, one belonging to Ahmad, husband of Salmah and father to Saadiah and her family of 35M Jalan Greja. Humble and unadorned, his vessel held more than nets and oars. Within its frame lived the story of a man who carried responsibility, devotion, and the weight of being his family’s shelter.

By day, Ahmad served as a lab technician at the Singapore General Hospital. But in the evenings, and whenever time allowed, he would push his sampan gently off the shore, rowing into the calm to fish - steering with the same steady hands that guided his family through life’s shifting tides.

When his sampan lay pulled up along the coast, it became a quiet landmark. It beckoned family to come closer to admire, and to mark their visit with a photograph, like this one.

We remember and honour Ahmad, along with brother‑in‑law Mohd Noor and Jalan Greja neighbours Iazim and Leman - all sampan owners of Bedok Beach in their time. Out at sea, they cast their nets, waited for hours with kerosene lamps glowing beside them, sipping coffee as the tide shifted - and returned home with fish caught with pride and joy, offerings for their families to feast on.

Their lives as fathers were voyages of courage and tenderness. And like the sampans they rowed, these were men who guided their families through uncertain waters - always rowing, always watching the horizon, always bringing their loved ones safely home.

Our heartfelt thanks to Saadiah Ahmad for sharing this precious glimpse into her family’s story, and for sharing this photo with us. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ritual of burning Kemenyan

-
Image
Each Thursday evening around 6pm, our grandmother would have someone from the household burn some kemenyan incense on a holder and carry this burner to every room and corner in our Bedok kampong house. We knew this was a spiritual practice but just recently informed by our mother that this act appeases the spirit owners of the house.... can still recall the distinct smell and incense smoke as this post is written.... 1955 photo of our Bedok kampong house with our grandmother (58 years old here) posing.. Kemenyan incense burner/holder (photo not ours)
Read more

Our neighbour from across the Sungei

-
Image
He used to walk about 2km to school every day — Bedok Boys — from his home at Padang Terbakar (later renamed Siak Kuan Road in the 1970s). His house was the second one next to the old Sungei Bedok bridge, (855M Padang Terbakar, later 222 Siak Kuan Road) looking out toward the British pillboxes guarding the river mouth. And of course, another 2km home again after school. On those daily walks, he would have passed right by our Bedok kampong house at Kampong Laut, making his way out toward Bedok Corner before turning right. We were just babies and toddlers then, but how lovely that all these years later, we’ve connected with this neighbour from across the sungei — Daniel. Daniel shared with us this precious family photo taken around 1960, with him at the extreme right. Behind them, you can see the Bedok beach where the river met the sea, and at the right corner, the familiar silhouette of the pillboxes. He also remembers a huge, rarely-seen butter fruit tree in his compound — bearing ...
Read more

Local music royalty from our Bedok kampong

-
Image
Our grandmother really enjoyed eating the wantan mee from the coffee shop at the corner of the row of shops facing Bedok Corner along Bedok Road at the turn. Almost every day, our cousin - whom Grandma had raised from infancy and who lived with us in our Bedok kampong house - would head out to buy this meal for her. She was in her early teens then, around 1964. On the way to the stall, she would pass the sundry shop and the Ho family’s house at 6C Bedok Road. She remembers clearly how, time and again, music spilled out from that home - guitars strumming, a band rehearsing, and a young female voice rising above it all. It was only a year later, when Silver Threads and Golden Needles became a hit in 1965 (her favourite song), that she realised she had been walking past the home of one of the members of   Singapore’s 1960s music royalty: The Crescendos . All she knew back then was that she had a teenage crush on one of the boys, Raymond Ho “he is so handsome!” Many thanks to Ra...
Read more